·       Incident filmed, circulated on social media

·       In the video, the woman is seen pleading to the accused and asking them to consider the “sanctity” of the Ganga, which she addressed as “mother”, in Barh police station area in rural Patna.

A 45-year-old woman was allegedly gangraped in Patna district of Bihar while she was taking a bath in the River Ganga during a religious ritual. The incident happened on Monday, however the police only started the action on Wednesday.

As per reports, two men, including the person who captured the crime on video and later shared it on social media, have been arrested.

The incident came to the fore after the video was widely shared on social media. In the video, the woman is seen pleading to the accused and asking them to consider the “sanctity” of the Ganga, which she addressed as “mother”. Local villagers alleged that when the woman reached the concerned police station to lodge her complaint against the culprits, the policemen refused to register a first information report. Barh Police swung into action only after they came across the viral video of the crime and superintendent of police (rural) Anand Kumar took up the case to monitor it. Police said the woman was dragged out of the river by a man named Shivpujan Mahto, a driver, and took turns to rape her along with others.

The incident comes less than two weeks after the principal and clerk of a private school in Patna’s Phulwarisharif were arrested for allegedly raping a Class 5 student repeatedly in the school premises for over nine months.